Fixed Link!!!

http://breemarteen.wix.com/2ndsemesterportfolio

Portfoliolio

http://briannuhmartin.wix.com/sophomorenglishisdone#!about1/czue

The Impact of Media

In the day that we stand today, we are presented with far more conveniences than ever before; one of these conveniences being social media. Its taken us a time to get where we are currently at with technology and media, but I think we can all agree that it has its major advantages. Thanks to email and texting we can contact someone from almost anywhere in the world at an instant, and even have an almost real face to face conversation through video chat. Its a given that media is supposed to be a major venue we use to strengthen and build connections with one another.. But is that what really happens as a result? Studies show that social media often does the opposite in which what we intend to do with it- it disconnects us from our peers. On an article posted by CBC, they feature a study that was done on teens and social media, "In her own research, Greenfield has found that young people feel socially supported by having large networks of on-line friends, and these are not necessarily friends they ever see face-to-face."(http://www.cbc.ca). We often get so caught in the media aspect itself, that we strain the actual relationships we are involved in. Staying too plugged into these sites cause damage to how we opperate in the social realm. In an article posted by the NY Times, psychologist Sherry Turkle tells us that "In lacking conversations, we also have fewer opportunities to self-reflect. Children develop in the context of a relationship. Emotions drive behavior and are central in all relationships". In the picture we see something that we encounter everyday- less literal contact between to people and more disconnected "socialiazing". Like everything, media is great when used in appropriate proportions; but things have scaled out to way greater than anticipated, and its hurting how we live with one another.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/social-media-affecting-teens-concepts-of-friendship-intimacy-1.2543158

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/26/opinion/the-antisocial-effects-of-social-media.html

Tribute Card

Macbeth Essay Assignment

     The play Macbeth is a tale told by William Shakespeare that contains a plot both complex and trivial. With gripping characters such as Macbeth himself, his lady, Macduff, and many others; the play provides much more than just an entertaining reading, it gives us insight to one of the more larger themes we see in the occurrences of life. That is, when individuals take action of extreme self indulgence, it not only results in absolute self-destruction, but also causes cynical misfortunes to those surrounding.
     We see this throughout the entirety of the play. From the very beginning we know that Scotland is at war and that Macbeth appears to be a valiant and loyal soldier of the king. However, his loyalty is almost immediately compromised when he is told he may hold a higher place of power if only he killed the king, he questions himself in the first act "If ill, Why hath it given me earnest of success, commending in a truth?" (1.3. 131-133.). Though he was intrigued by the prophesies of power told by the witches, it was his wife that had ultimately convinced him to betray- her actions were fueled by selfish desire to gain power by any means. She tells herself how ruthless she would be for power:

"Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood;

Stop up th'access and passage to remorse,

That no compunctious visitings of nature

Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between

The effect and it! Come to my woman’s breasts,

And take my milk for gall, you murd'ring ministers,

You wait on nature’s mischief. Come, thick night,

And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,

That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,

Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark

To cry “Hold, hold!” (1.5.44-54.)

For her own self and status, she would be willing to murder cold-bloodedly. However, she fails to see the possible consequences these actions would have on her own self. 

     As you see actions take place, characters unfold. Duncan, the king of Scotland, is murdered by Macbeth- Macbeth's road to the corrupt pursuit of power has begun. At the moment following the king's death, you can see Macbeth begin to lose himself, 

"Methought I heard a voice cry, “Sleep no more!

Macbeth does murder sleep”—the innocent sleep,

Sleep that knits up the raveled sleave of care,

The death of each day’s life, sore labor’s bath,

Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course,

Chief nourisher in life’s feast.    

Still it cried, “Sleep no more!” to all the house.

“Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor

Shall sleep no more. Macbeth shall sleep no more.”" (2.2.35-44.).

His hysteria comes with realizing the fact he had murdered the very man he served. It had caused him more pain than gain. Now Macbeth has a trail that he feels he has to continuously cover up, paranoia causes him to take the lives of several others in order to save his own skin. Banquo, his companion, would soon lose his life when Macbeth decides he is a threat to security, 

  "To be thus is nothing,

But to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo

Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature

Reigns that which would be feared. Rather than so, come fate into the list,

And champion me to th' utterance."  (3.1.47-50, 70-71.).

Rather than ruling happily as king, Macbeth finds himself living in fear. His actions and power vigorously change his state of mind as well as his character. 

     After numerous murders were conducted by Macbeth and his hired killers, a force between Macduff (a soldier that previously fought by Macbeth's side), Duncan's son, and others planned to take back the throne by force. The whole kingdom was in despair. During this time, Lady Macbeth had lost her mind to the crimes she had taken part in, "she is troubled with thick-coming fancies, that keep her from her rest" (5.3.38-39). Lady Macbeth, who initially seems to be strong-willed and collected in ambition, has finally come to a place of doom. Earlier in act 5, Lady Macbeth was experiencing hallucinations, vividly going through murders while asleep. This goes to show her selfish actions weren't as rewarding as thought to be. The play ends with the death of Macbeth, at the stake of Macduff. The kingdom is given back to those by which Scotland was previously governed by, making all of the deaths in the journey of Macbeth pointless and without virtue. At the end of the play, you see Macbeth in a completely raw, desperate state, 

"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

To the last syllable of recorded time,

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing."(5.5.19-28.).

     In the play "Macbeth", you see transformation in the main characters. Macbeth goes from being a man of honest integrity, to a man that betrayed and murdered for power. Before he became the character of wickedness that only served himself, he was a good man that put his nation and his king at high priority. Selfishness and greed can be only the roots of poor circumstances. When you place yourself and your level of status above all else, you fall- and those effected by you fall to hardships as well.  

     

     

Macbeth Anticipation Reading

1.     Behind every great man is a great woman (every great man is supported, guided, helped and even pushed by a great woman).

I disagree. I believe that in many cases, a male is supported by a great woman. But definitely not in every circumstance. I don't believe that our actions should be and they aren't completely dependent on another individual, and for some, they'd in fact prefer to do it all on their own. So to say that every man has a women backing him up in all he does is false because not all men have that certain dependability or influential dependability on a women close to them. Just as females can do on their own. 

2.     Witches, demons, and evil spirits actually exist.

I agree. I'm religious, so I do believe that there is a world beyond this present one. There are beings and essences we won't and never will comprehend. I'm not the wisest, but I know there are evils that didn't originate within us, therefore they came from some place else. My grandpa was into some sketchy stuff so my family has experienced weird things that were unexplainable? Yeah, alright haha.

3.     Sometimes it is necessary to do something wrong to get what you want.

Mm, I disagree. You can't serve two masters. You're either doing wrong or right, and you should always keep check on what your intentions are. Kinda hypocritical that I'm saying this though because sometimes I do not so good things do get what I want.

4.     What goes around comes around (karma).

I agree. Whether or not its within our capabilities to be aware of the correlation between our actions and other happenings is questionable, but I believe justice gets taken care of in its own way. One time I slapped my sister on the shoulder and the next day I slipped and hit my shoulder... so obviously its real. 

5.     Human beings are easily tempted by things they want, even if it’s wrong.

Totally agree. Humans suck, and we are always committing actions out of greed. I'm not saying we do everything out of a selfish conscience, because many people can give away to their acts of greed, but I do think most humans are easily influenced by their own desires. 

6.     If someone feels that the ruler/s of his/her country is destroying the country, that person should try to overthrow the ruler/s.

I think that the government should serve its people, not the other way around. So if the people of a nation aren't happy with its leaders, something should be done. I don't think crazy stuff needs to go down though, like assassinations and ish like that. I don't have any experience with government.. But when my dad does something to destroy my happiness I let him know he sucks and we settle things out. 

7.     There are circumstances or events that justify murdering someone.

Dis a g r e e. We have no right to take someone else's life. Just as no one has the right to take ours. I've never killed someone and I don't think I would unless I had to defend myself.

8.     Success is worth any price you have to pay.

Don't think so. You take a fair and just road, then you'll get to fair and just places. I don't think extreme measures should be taken just for self gain. 

9.     Kings are appointed by God, and they rule as His representatives on Earth.
I don't if in this current day there are people that God appoints to hold offices around the world. I know he did in times of the Bible, but I don't know if things have changed. 

10.  Your astrological forecast (your horoscope) is a good indicator of how your day will go.

I disagree? I have no idea if the system of horoscope is credible or not so I don't wanna give an ignorant opinion. But I have to say my love horoscope is wrong 60% of the time.

11.  Traitors should be executed.

I think that if an individual makes an arrangement to which his life may be consequentially taken, and he breaks his promised deals, then things need to go according to the agreement. Again, I don't think we can decide who dies or not. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Is evil inherent in human nature? That is, are some people just “born evil,” or is evil caused by circumstance or environment? 

I think the word evil is a relative term. Though I think everyone can see evil through different ways, I don't think it is inherited within us to be evil. It's kind of a controvesial thought, because some are indeed born with differences that may enable them to commit horrid action. Psychopaths and sociopaths are people that lack certain capabilities of emotion and terrible things can come out of this; but it doesn't make them "evil". Evil is presented and taken into us through experience and environment. 

 Are our lives determined by fate, or by the acts of our free will? 

I don't believe in fate. There are things we do that take us to the places we reach. We were given the gift of free will so that we would have the opportunity to take it upon ourselves to seek our own purpose and to walk our own path. I think that maybe certain things were predetermined to be, and some is out of our control; but ultimately our own acts carve our paths.

Is redemption truly possible? That is, is it possible to commit an act of genuine evil and truly recover from it? 

Redemption is always possible. The road to redemption is a tough one, but in a necessary sense. "Evil" acts are committed on the daily, and if redemption was impossible, this world would be stuck in a dismay we couldn't get out of. True redemption has to come from an intention as strong as the intention was when the crime that was committed. In other words, you can only find true redemption when you mean it with all your life and if you have sincerely come to terms with the evil you've done.

Is it possible to admire or respect a person whom you know has committed acts of genuine evil? 

You can admire whoever you want. One single act doesn't determine the whole essence of one's being. People are so much more than one account of their mistakes, and it'd be hypocritical if we were to stop looking up to someone because we realize they've done some wrong. However, past evil acts that someone has committed do need to be taken into account when evaluating one's character. We've all heard the phrase 'actions speak louder than words', and it's important to be aware of the things a person has done, but most importantly what the acts indicate and mean. 

Do “the ends justify the means”? That is, if one uses morally evil methods to acquire a goal, is that goal forever tainted or polluted by the actions one has taken to achieve it? 

Our final destination will always be of correlation to the walk we took part of. So no, the ends don't justify the means. Every action we commit has to be within the intentions of our true selves and if we do evil on the way to good, it means we haven't walked in the line of good for the journey to good. That's a lot of words to say that we have to stick to the path we are going, we can't skip around if it's not right.

LC Reader Response #3

a. Theme: In horrible times of unprecedented proportions, the act of trying to survive through inhumane conditions can leave many devastated in striving to continue on; but for some, faith and hope can be the means in which deliverance is found.

b. Character: During the horrifying events of the Holocaust, faith- along with the lives of millions- took a sharp decline as it was stripped from the many affected by the cruel acts of the Nazis. Ellie Wiesel, a boy during his time in Auschwitz, struggled greatly with not only the circumstances he'd gone through- but also his testament in faith.